The Zoe and Silas Show

12/2/13: More time at the hospital with Derek's mom today, more unanswered questions. Praying for the best but also preparing for the worst. When we got home tonight S&Z had mixed up every single toy piece they have in the entire house. It was quite the mess to sort out, and we tackled it together (after giving them a little time to go it alone so that they NEVER DO THAT AGAIN).

12/1/13: Julia was able to babysit this afternoon so that we could go to the hospital together to visit Derek's mom. I stopped by lab with food and work clothes for the week, and I also dropped off an early holiday gift for everyone. I hope they love it! We were happy to hang out with Derek's parents at the hospital this afternoon and watch the Patriots game. Joanne was in better spirits and we're hoping to get more information about what's going on tomorrow.  Today was supposed to be Thanksgiving with Derek's family. We had considered making an abbreviated meal just for us, but we ultimately threw in the towel and decided to just skip Thanksgiving this year. We all put on our pj's when we got home, ordered pizza, and decorated the Christmas tree. Derek and I enjoyed the Thanksgiving bottle of wine I had bought, and the kids got juice boxes as a special treat with their pizza. Silas has been asking to put up the tree all weekend, so as soon as...

11/30/13: It's been a rough weekend with Derek's mom in the hospital. We are still waiting for a lot of test results to come back. With no babysitter on Saturday Derek had to head up to the hospital again without me. I did my best with the kids to keep them focused on Christmas so that they wouldn't realize we have to skip Thanksgiving this year... This little light of mine...

10/29/13: S&Z had their 4-year-old check-ups on Tuesday morning. Thankfully Vanessa had forewarned me that this visit would be packed with stuff so I had mentally prepared. First they had hearing tests, and then vision tests. They even had to undress and put on gowns like adults do! They were total troopers. Finally it was time to become Immunization Superheroes! We put on our capes and masks before the nurse came in to give a nasal mist + 2 shots for each kid. They were so brave for the shots, but totally over it when we also had to go to the lab for the blood draw. It was a long, stressful morning for everyone! Here are the 4-year-old stats- ZOE Height: 40.5" (65th percentile) Weight: 36.5 lbs (62nd percentile) BMI: normal range Predicted adult height is now in the "average" range, i.e., 5'5"-5'6" (although this will be determined by early vs. late puberty). SILAS Height: 43.5" (97th percentile) ...

9/30/13: S&Z had a dentist appt on Monday. They were such great cooperators!! In order to make the appt I had to leave work early. It was really helpful that Julia brought the kids to the dental office and I just met them there! Reason 1,540,339 that we love Ta-ta!

9/19/13: On Thursday we saw the allergist in order to begin figuring out what medication(s) Silas is allergic to . Both kids LOVE going to the doctor (weird, I know), and even though they haven't met Dr. H. before they drew her pictures while we waited for our appointment. At the appt we explained everything that happened in August and he got a full exam. One of us will take him back at the end of October for standard penicillin allergy testing. The other meds don't have a standard set of tests, so depending on how the first set of tests go we may end up having more testing done. Our goal is to get everything sorted out before winter-preschool-sickness season is upon us!

8/26/13: I'm sorry, did I say that we were back to normal ? I take it back, and ask the universe for forgiveness. Because apparently this is what Erythema Multiforme looks like.  Yup, Silas is having an allergic reaction to one of the antibiotics he's been on since the beginning of last week. Itchy, red, and spreading. Awesome.  Needless to say, all meds are all done now. We will need to see an allergist in a few weeks to figure out what in the heck he's allergic to. The poor kid has been through the ringer for 9 days now, although he still managed to play all day today. He was still riding his bike in loops around the house before shower time tonight (although bedtime was a nightmare). Thankfully, he's sleeping peacefully now after a dose of children's Benadryl...

8/23/13: By the time we woke up on Friday morning morning, major road work had started in front of our house. S&Z spent most of the morning watching all the trucks. I knew that Silas needed to be seen again before the weekend, so I called as soon as the clinic opened and we got an appointment with Dr. R. for 11:15. Derek's mom was scheduled for a procedure + infusion at Dana Farber, so he headed out to check in with his parents and I took the kids to Silas' appointment. We were there for over 1.5 hours and Dr. R. was with us almost the entire time. The only time she wasn't in the room was when she called to consult with two different specialists at Boston Children's Hospital, and consulted with another pediatrician who she had come in to see us for a 2nd opinion. It was a LONG time for the 3 of us to be stuck in a clinic room! At the end of the appointment, after going round and round about the persistent lymphangitis mark ...

Today's update (although the title says it all)- The (only piece of) good news is that Derek and Zoe are still all clear. The spot on my neck a little worse overnight, no signs of improvement today. The tracking rash on Silas' arm, the primary sign of lymphangitis, is so far untouched by antibiotics. New blisters forming on his hand and legs, hence his hand is wrapped up like a wounded soldier in WWI. Let me tell you, this is not an e-mail response that wanted to receive tonight after sending Dr. R. today's update. FML. ****** Alissa, yes, keep using both oral antibiotics + ointment. Trimethoprim etc (Bactrim) for the face (likely staph impetigo). Cephalexin (Keflex) for the arm and blistering elsewhere (proven strep lymphangiitis). Triple Abx ointment for the arm (strep), Mupirocin for the face (staph) just in case. Any other contacts with infection should use triple antibiotic ointment and Penicillin or Keflex (if spreading). Any of you could catch str...

As suspected , I've also got impetigo. Mine is mild enough and localized to just a couple of spots so no oral antibiotics for me, just topical. Silas, on the other hand, is now on 2 oral antibiotics + topical. He had a new blister form on the palm of his hand today. We're waiting to hear back on the results of the culture that was taken yesterday to find out whether it's staph or strep-based; in the meantime Dr. R. has him on both types of antibiotics in order to keep the bacterial eviction going. He's feeling much better, though, and he continues to be my little optimist. Whenever I ask him how he feels, he replies "good!". When we put on cream or take medicine, he says "it's getting better!". When he asked why they had to stay home again today, I explained that we don't want him to get anyone else sick. He replied "ok!" with a smile. Love that kid. Both Derek and I, on the other hand, are pretty aggravated with everything so I...

Derek took Silas in to see the pediatrician this morning. He was diagnosed with impetigo (highly contagious) and a related lymphangitis. Either he was misdiagnosed by two doctors in the ER yesterday as having contact dermatitis, or the dermatitis got infected. Dr. R.  cultured one of the blisters on his arm to see if staph is the underlying cause of the impetigo.  Both Derek and Zoe are symptom-free, but I had to leave work midday because I have a lesion forming on my neck. I have an appointment with my PCP tomorrow, although I'm 99% sure that I've picked up the same bleeping bacteria. Thankfully the house was cleaned today, and we're washing hands and replacing linens like crazy. Silas was in rough shape this morning, but he was ready to play after quiet time (he didn't actually nap today). We set them up in the backyard with the makings for a car wash.  Meanwhile, I worked on the back deck and Derek took pictures of a spider on the windowsill....

Well, we almost made it four years without a trip to the ER. That lucky streak ended when we had to take Silas to Boston Children's Hospital today. He woke up yesterday morning with some serious redness and irritation on the bottom half of his face. By the late afternoon his face was swollen and blisters were starting to form. This morning he was completely lethargic and wouldn't get out of bed. We got him to eat a little fruit and drink some water while Derek talked to the on-call pediatrician. It was very sad to watch Silas watching Zoe play in the backyard :( He was so miserable and oozy. After talking to the pediatrician for the second time, Derek and Silas headed over to the ER while I tried to find someone to watch Zoe. Thankfully Julia was at home cooking, so I dropped Zoe off at her house and headed to BCH.  Silas was such a trooper. Both ER attendings came in to assess him independently. They agreed that he has some kind of contact dermatitis, which ...

2/22/13: On Friday Zoe & Silas went to the dentist for the first time. We've talked about going since I added them to my insurance this calendar year. It took a little searching to figure out where to take them; we finally settled on a nearby practice that Vanessa took Oliver to a few months ago. Zoe nominated Silas to go first and we all trooped back to the exam room together. He was a little apprehensive at first, but our awesome hygenist made the cleaning experience pretty easy overall. The dentist we saw has 5-year-old triplets, so we had fun talking to him. Definitely makes having twins sound easy! It really helped Zoe to watch Silas go first. When it was her turn she hopped right up in the chair and opened her mouth WIDE. They did so great!!!!! We celebrated the milestone and good behavior by having lunch at Blue Star :) After nap we had a playdate with Tracy, Josef, and Nick. All 4 kids had a great time getting some winter ...